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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $230.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

No discernible loss of resolution

Cons:

Limited range of compatible lenses; a bit long and heavy

Nikon AF-S E TCs appear to be the only good ones that attach to certain Nikon lenses, and the reviews suggest that there is no real difference between the II and III models, except with Nikon's very newest lenses. So I bought an excellent-minus used II, at less than half the price of a new III, for my 80-400, with which my handy, reliable Kenko DGX TC is incompatible.

Thus far, I'm happy. The 80-400 is a very sharp but demanding lens, in the sense that focus must be precise on 3-D subjects because of very shallow depth of field at 400mm. With this TC in place, I'm able to get precisely focused images at EXIF net 550mm, or 715 when I use crop mode on my D7100, with no discernible loss of resolution. Of course motion blur, at the camera or at the subject, is magnified by 1.4x, as with all TCs. But I think that any perceived loss of resolution with this TC is most likely caused by ambient conditions and technique.

The combination of this TC and the 80-400 must be AF fine tuned. The D7100 detects the TC and automatically applies the AF adjustment. I found, by shooting a slanted yardstick, that where a -7 AF adjustment works without the TC, I had to go all the way to +20 with the TC in place. I might re-adjust that a bit, but +20 dramatically improves focus at the focal spot.

Most lenses are incompatible with this TC because the center of the device at the outside end protrudes too far for most lenses to be mounted. The compatible ones, like the 80-400 are designed to concentrically fit around the projection.

With the TC in place, the 80-400 + TC is perceptibly longer and heavier. This requires the non-shooting hand to be held farther out toward the end of the lens to steadily counteract the downward force when hand-holding, which is all I ever do.

But now that I've fine-tuned AF and gotten used to a slightly different hand-hold, I'm really pleased. This will find a lot of use with small birds, distant flowers and architectural detail.

mbunge

Registered: December 2006Posts: 10

Nikon 1.4X AF-S TC-14E II review by mbunge

Review Date: 12/15/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $225.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

works with my nikon lenses

Cons:

none

I use the teleconverter with my 70-200 VR and my 300 f4 telephoto and it is very compatible. Pictures are sharp, autofocus and metering are not degraded. I personally like the 1.4 because I only lose a stop. Good quality

ultrafast

Registered: November 2006Posts: 8

Nikon 1.4X AF-S TC-14E II review by ultrafast

Review Date: 11/23/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $225.00| Rating: 8

Pros:

Good way to extend focal length for a low price, fairly sharp

Cons:

steals some light

Nice TC. It helps my 200-400mm VR get out to 580mm which is great, considering the exorbitant price of a 600mm AF-S lens. You lose some sharpness and a couple of f-stops, but it is a trade I am often willing to make.

The TC is well built, much better feeling than all the longer TCs and it sure is lighter than brining that big longer telephoto.